The Grid: Tax Return Shows Obama Family's Favorite Charities

(April 16) -- The $5.5 million in income President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, reported on their 2009 federal tax return was the most ever for a first couple. The bulk of it came from book sales, not the president's annual salary of $400,000. Their contributions to 40 charities totaled more than $329,000.

The Obamas' largest donations were $50,000 each for CARE and the United Negro College Fund, and $20,000 for the Boys and Girls Club. Mouse over the chart below for details on other contributions of $15,000 and $10,000. A breakdown of smaller donations is below the chart. (Click here for a PDF of the entire tax return.)

The president also donated the $1.4 million that came with his 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to 10 charities, including one of his personal favorites, the United Negro College Fund, which got $125,000 for scholarships. (Click here for details in PDF.) However, that isn't included in his return because the IRS allows Nobel recipients to donate their prize money directly to charity without reporting it as income.

Source: whitehouse.gov

Donations of $5,000 or Less

$5,000: Bread for the City, Calvary Women's Shelter, Central Illinois Food Bank, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, DC Boys and Girls Club, Direct Relief International, Girl Scouts USA, Greater Chicago Food Depository, Illinois Head Start Association, Illinois Reading Council, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Martin Luther King National Memorial Project, Midtown Educational Foundation, Mujeres Latinas en Accion, National AIDS Fund, Rochelle Lee / Boundless Readers, Sidwell Friends School, St. Leo's Residence for Veterans, The Christopher House, The Harmony Project

$2,500: Book Worm Angels

$2,000: Haiti Foundation of Hope, National Congress of Black Women

$1,500: Washington Humane Society

$500: Avon Walk for Breast Cancer

$250: St. John's Church

$200: 19th Street Baptist Church

$150: Crusade of Mercy